More Than Sacraments

Josiah is a king like no other before him or after him in the Old Covenant. His reforms clean house in a nation utterly corrupted. His passion to obey God was unparalleled even by David and Hezekiah. He not only brought Israel to national repentance, but he also restored the sacred meal that signified who they were. 

2 Kings 23:21–23 (ESV) And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

The Passover for Israel was what the Lord's Supper is for us. It is the meal that God's covenant people ate with their deliverer (Jesus for us/Moses for them). Both meals were inaugurated on the night before the death of the firstborn (of God for us/of Pharoah for them). Both meals signified that there was a new age dawning and so both meals were intended to be shared together regularly in perpetuity to teach God's people that obedience is not just getting sin OUT, it is putting the food and nourishment of God in. 

Josiah does for Israel what no king had done. He cleaned out the sin and restored proper worship around the Passover meal. And yet, we see something in the rest of 2 Kings 23 that should teach us about the reality of sin and our current crisis with institutionalized Christianity in the world. You see, you can have all the right actions and performances according to the religious prescriptions and still not be saved. We see that illustrated here in 2 Kings 23. 

2 Kings 23:28–29 (ESV) Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.

Josiah served God faithfully and yet made a terrible error at the end of his life, seeking a fight with someone he didn't need to engage and it cost him his reign. He was cut short and falls in line with a long list of Kings from these two books who, no matter how noble they could be, did not ultimately save Israel from the wrath of God. 

For proof, I take you back just a few verses before Josiah's death at the conclusion of his great reforms:

2 Kings 23:26–27 (ESV) Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Despite all Josiah's reforms, the judgment of God was still to come. Israel would need another King who could turn away the wrath of God. The text teaches us to look forward in scripture and in redemptions narrative to the true Son of David who would bear the wrath we deserved and save humanity completely - Jesus Christ. 

You see, you can have all the religious impressions you want, fulfill all the institutional performances, and still not be saved from your sin. Jesus did not die to leave you an example, but to substitute himself for you so that God's wrath might Passover you and rest on Him at that cross. A contemporary of Josiah's predecessor saw this great need for humanity and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he prophesied that He would come and bear the guilt of us all.

Isaiah 53:10–11 (ESV) Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

I'm thankful today that Jesus not only saves from sin but also from self-righteous performance. We serve God not to get to heaven but because He's already seated us with Him there (Ephesians 2:6). We are grateful and humbled to do only what has been commanded (Luke 17:10). We were unworthy and He made us who we are. 

Amen.